NCWTS: Ben Kennedy Victorious at Bristol Motor Speedway

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In: NASCAR Truck Series News

Ben Kennedy stole the show Wednesday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway in the No. 33 Jacob Chevrolet. Kennedy started the night in 13th and took his GMS Racing Chevrolet to victory lane when the 200-lap UNOH 200 ended for his first career win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

“I can’t put this victory into words. This is so cool and I’m just speechless as the guys gave me an awesome truck,” said Kennedy after the race on FOX Sports 1. “I was just thinking go as fast as possible on this last lap while I knew Brett (Moffitt) was putting pressure on me from behind.”

The 24-year old came into his 63rd career start with seven top five and 21 top 10 finishes. His one and only pole came last season at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February.

Brett Moffitt will leave the 0.533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway with a runner-up finish. Like Kennedy, Moffitt will leave with his best career finish in the Camping World Truck Series. His previous best came in July of this year at Pocono Raceway where he took home the third spot. The Iowa native now holds two top five and two top 10 finishes through five starts.

“It was really tough. Once he got in clean air, it’s tough to beat them – even at the short tracks like Bristol, clean air is king,” said Moffitt after the race. “We had enough to get to him and he slipped up a few times, but we needed one more mistake and I think we would have had a shot at it, but all in all it was a good day. We had a good Toyota Tundra. Can’t thank Tom DeLoach (team owner) and everyone at Red Horse (Racing) enough for the car they brought. Hope to get them next week.”

Daniel Hemric will leave the small oval with a third-place finish in his No. 19 BKR Ford. Hemric started the night in 12th and went on to score his fifth top five finish of 2016. His last four top five finishes have all come in the third spot. He will now go into next weekend’s event at Michigan with 10 top 10 finishes through 13 races this year.

Christopher Bell showed the one to beat all evening long in the No. 4 JBL / SiriusXM Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota after leading the field two different times for 101 total laps. Bell’s night would go south on lap 144 in an incident that involved teammate Daniel Suarez on the backstretch. He would also be involved in the incident on lap 164 that involved Kaz Grala and Bryce Napier in turn four. Bell would rally back to finish in seventh after starting the UNOH 200 in fifth.

Daniel Suarez also showed strength at the front of the field by leading the way three different times for 77 laps. Suarez, after starting the night in second, had a great night going until lap 144 in a caution that involved he and his teammate Christopher Bell. The native of Mexico would be involved in another crash on lap 188 that would ultimately end his night. Suarez will walk away with a 29th place finish.

Two-time champion Matt Crafton also had a rough night behind the wheel of his No. 88 Menards Toyota. Crafton’s night would come to an end on lap 70 after suffering an issue with the engine. He’ll leave the Bristol Motor Speedway with a disappointing 32nd place finish.

The next race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be next Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. The Careers for Veterans 200 will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 1:00 p.m. ET. The Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM Channel 90 will have live radio coverage.

Brett Winningham
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